Yorkshire medic’s out-of-court settlement over prostitute claim

YORKSHIRE have reached an out-ofcourt settlement with former medical chief Wayne Morton, bringing an end to an extraordinary legal battle featuring now-withdrawn allegations he had sex with a prostitute in the dressing room. It follows the intervention of new chairman Colin Graves in a deal that takes the club’s compensation bill for the unlawful sacking of former employees beyond £2million. Morton was suing Yorkshire for £569,000 in a claim for breach of contract that had been going on since December 2021. He was one of 16 members of the club’s coaching and medical teams sacked via email by former chairman Lord Patel in a brutal purge of staff who raised concerns about Yorkshire’s handling of the Azeem Rafiq racism saga.

The Morton claim had threatened to develop into an explosive court case as, in their submissions to the High Court, Yorkshire made a series of extraordinary allegations against him — including that he ‘engaged in unprotected sexual activity and intercourse with a prostitute’ in the dressing room and had a ‘sexual relationship with a senior employee at the club’. Morton denied those claims. At a pre-trial hearing last month Yorkshire are understood to have withdrawn the two allegations of sexual misconduct, as well as three other claims against Morton which the club were using to justify his dismissal. Morton was also accused of covering up an alleged incident of indecent exposure by Rafiq on a Yorkshire tour of South Africa in 2012, an accusation which both men denied and was withdrawn by the club.

Lord Patel stood down last March after a turbulent reign that saw the club brought to the brink of administration. Yorkshire’s settlement with Morton takes the total cost of their handling of Rafiq’s allegations beyond £3.5m. In addition to admitting the 16 sackings were procedurally unfair, Yorkshire have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on legal fees and paid £200,000 to Rafiq in compensation. Yorkshire declined to comment.